Armed with only veteran minimums as a second-apron team, it was unclear how the Milwaukee Bucks might fare in free agency this offseason. In the 2024 NBA Draft, Bucks general manager Jon Horst selected two 19-year-olds who do not seem destined for heavy playing time in their rookie season, which meant the three open roster spots were closer to the middle of the roster than the end and Horst would need to find veteran players ready to contribute next season.
Monday, the Bucks appeared to find one of those players when they came to an agreement with 32-year-old combo guard Delon Wright. Wednesday, it seems as though Horst has found another one of those players in agreeing to a one-year, veteran-minimum contract with free-agent forward Taurean Prince.
Prince, 30, appeared in 78 games for the Los Angeles Lakers and started 49 times last season under then-Lakers head coach (and current Bucks lead assistant coach) Darvin Ham. The eight-year NBA veteran averaged 8.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 27 minutes per game and knocked down 39.6 percent from 3 on 4.6 attempts from deep per game.
Though fans likely want to immediately label Prince a 3-and-D wing, his usage over the years makes labeling Prince a bit more complicated. Last season in Los Angeles, Prince played small forward roughly 70 percent of the time, according to positional estimates from Cleaning the Glass. But those same estimates say he spent most of his time at power forward in his previous four seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers and Brooklyn Nets, so Prince has some potential positional versatility.
Since the championship run in 2021 when PJ Tucker and Pat Connaughton helped the Bucks flex into small-ball lineups during the postseason, Horst has been looking for the player who can defend big wings around the league and play up a position to help unlock lineups that allow Giannis Antetokounmpo to play center for short stints during the regular season. Prince might not be that exact player, but it is at least a possibility with his skills.
Look at this possession from Prince against Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant in the 2023-24 season’s In-Season Tournament. (Note current Bucks head coach Doc Rivers on color commentary for the game and protect your eyes from the purple court.)
Prince was not as physical as Tucker during his infamous battle against Durant in the Bucks’ second-round 2021 matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, but he was effective. With a 7-foot wingspan, Prince didn’t just manage to make it tough on Durant but he also got his hand on the ball during Durant’s jumper and forced Durant to hit the side of the backboard. That length pairs well with Prince’s strength to help him stay in front of players like Durant.
Though Prince can stay in front of players who prefer to look for their jumper and then bother them with his length, it is a little bit more difficult for him to stay in front of quicker players like Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George.
His wingspan can help him get back into the play and bother players, like he did by stripping George on that shot attempt, but it is not advisable to think Prince will be a lockdown defender against the league’s best shooting guards, even if Prince is surprisingly nimble for someone his size and willing to give it a go against players like Denver Nuggets All-Star Jamal Murray.
Prince did an admirable job fighting over the top of both screens set by Nikola Jokić and managed to get a real contest on that jumper from Murray, but he should not be viewed as some sort of stopper. He is an undeniably solid defender, but because the Lakers did not have a lot of great defensive options on the perimeter, Ham was forced to put him into precarious positions far too often. In fact, according to statistics from Synergy, Prince spent nearly 46 percent of his time on the floor last season defending one of the other team’s best scorers.
These defenders spent the most time matched up on scoring ball handlers this year. pic.twitter.com/di6VNKIBEg
— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) June 23, 2024
He might need to do some of that in Milwaukee next season, but in an ideal world, Prince will be used in that role far less often next season with the Bucks.
On the other end of the floor, Prince will largely be what fans might expect. Because he got his start in Atlanta with former Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer, Prince got used to putting up a lot of 3-pointers early in his career. Over the last eight seasons, Prince has attempted 2,239 3-pointers and knocked down 37.6 percent from deep, but that career percentage is slightly misleading because of poor shooting (33.9 percent) in his lone full season in Brooklyn (2019-20).
In six of his last seven seasons, Prince has knocked down at least 37.6 percent. He knocked down 40 percent from deep once (2020-21) and hit 39.6 percent from 3 last season with the Lakers, including a career-high 43 percent on above-the-break attempts.
Though knocking down 3-pointers will be an important part of his job playing off the ball next to Damian Lillard and Antetokounmpo, Prince has shown some ability to attack closeouts when teams run him off the 3-point line.
There are times when he gets a bit too ambitious around the rim, though, and that has limited his ability to finish at a commensurate rate for an athletic 6-foot-6 forward with long arms (64.4 percent in the last three seasons). Though attacking closeouts hasn’t led to enough success at the rim for Prince, he has turned into a strong midrange shooter, nailing 45.4 percent on those shots over the last three years. (Shooting stats from Cleaning the Glass.)
Though Prince doesn’t necessarily answer the question of who will start at shooting guard for the Bucks, the Bucks opened free agency looking for players who could contribute for Rivers and play real minutes next season. Considering he appeared in 78 games and played 2,108 minutes for a playoff team last season, Prince is one of those guys.
The Bucks still have one open roster spot remaining, but Horst’s first two free-agent signings of the summer fit well within the team’s needs for next season. Wright and Prince might not end up putting up the same offensive numbers that starting shooting guard Malik Beasley put up last season, but that’s OK. Offense isn’t what the Bucks needed from their open roster spots.
Last summer, Beasley was brought to Milwaukee to add some scoring punch next to lockdown defender Jrue Holiday in the backcourt. When the Bucks traded for Lillard just three days before training camp, that completely changed the environment for the role players. And though Beasley put together one of the best seasons of his career, it wasn’t actually what the Bucks needed. With Lillard on the roster, the Bucks needed less help from the role players offensively and greater contributions on defense.
And the Bucks seem to have found that in the first three days in free agency.
Wright can put more pressure on point guards and chase shooting guards around the floor with his length and quickness, and Prince can provide greater resistance against wings and forwards with his strength and length. Only so much can be expected from players signed to minimum contracts, but the Bucks came to agreements with two players who fit much better with the players at the top of the roster and served as rotation players for playoff teams at the end of last season.
The Bucks might not end up being a better team next season. It is impossible to predict the injuries, pitfalls and adversity any team will face in a given season, but on paper, their roster makes quite a bit more sense after the agreements made with these first two players.
(Photo of Taurean Prince driving against Peyton Watson: Jason Parkhurst / USA Today)
